From Tennis Princess to Japanese Mafioso
by Yoruko Rhapsodos
Summary: Instead of moving to Tokyo and going to Seigaku for Jr. high, Ryoma Echizen moved to Namimori. She quickly befriended lonely Tsunami Sawada, and when a certain hitman arrives in town both of their lives are turned upside down. fem!Ryoma and fem!Tsuna


Summary: Instead of the Echizen family moving to Tokyo and Ryoma attending Seigaku during Jr. high, they moved to Namimori in time for Ryoma's first year of high school. Normally, Ryoma wouldn't take an active interest in anything other than tennis. But the usually apathetic girl befriended one Tsunami Sawada. Both of their lives are turned upside down and occasionally even inside out when an apparently infamous hitman, a baby called Reborn, comes to town to tutor 'Dame' Tsuna and make her into the next boss of the Vongola mafia famiglia. fem!Ryoma & fem!Tsuna. fem!Ryoma/Belphegor & fem! Tsuna/Ryoga or fem!Tsuna/Dino

**Chapter One:**

**Dame-Tsuna's first friend,**

**the tennis prodigy**

"I'm going out!" a fifteen year old girl with black hair and natural dark green highlights called as she went out the door.

"All right, Ryoma-chan! Don't stay out too late." A woman's voice called back.

"Hai." Ryoma acknowledged.

At first Ryoma just wandered with no particular destination. Namimori High lacked a tennis team completely and there were no facilities purely for tennis, after all. For most of her life Ryoma Echizen had, first and foremost, been a tennis player. It even rated above being a girl. So in her opinion, there was nothing to do unless she found a particularly spectacular store with anime, manga, videogames, or various related apparel. All of which were often the only thing interesting enough to fill Ryoma's time when tennis wasn't an option. Eventually, Ryoma hit the jackpot: it wasn't a bookstore or even a comic book store. Rather, it was the first store she had ever seen or heard of dedicated exclusively to manga and anime.

Ryoma entered the store. Then she immediately headed for the right corner of the back where she could see a sign that read yaoi/shonen-ai. She had heard that an alternate line of Gravitation had recently come out by popular demand of the fans who hated Yuki and protested that Shuichi not only was put through too much because of the author but should have ended up with Ryuichi instead. She paused, however, when in the romance section she saw something she had heard of on forums but never seen in stores: Anniversary no Kuni no Alice Tokeiya and Omochabako no Kuni no Alice: Dual Jokers. Right after she had picked them up someone else up the last copies. Her golden eyes stared into surprised hazel ones. It was a girl her age with messy auburn hair.

"S-sumimasen!" she panicked, "Did you want these?"

"Iie I already grabbed copies." Ryoma assured, thinking 'Why is she so nervous? I won't hit her or anything.'

"So do you like this series too?" the girl asked.

"I've got all of the current games and most of the manga." Ryoma said, But anyway, what's your name? I'm Ryoma Echizen."

"I'm Tsunami Sawada." The girl answered, more cheerful at the apparent prospect of gaining a friend.

They checked out the yaoi section together and discovered that Regravitation, the title of the manga Ryoma had originally intended to get, had the first two volumes but only one volume of the second volume. Not one to be discouraged by dilemmas, especially trivial ones that didn't tennis, Ryoma quickly came up with a compromise. Tsuna could get it and later on let Ryoma borrow it unless the shop got the second volume before then. Ryoma had no idea, however, why Tsunami face-palmed when she told the red-head that she would be counting on her to show her the best spots to eat lunch then nap until the bell rang.

The next Monday was Ryoma's first day of school. Soon after she arrived, she annoyed the secretary because she refused to change from the pants of the boys' uniform to the skirt that was supposed to be in the girls' uniform since the rulebook didn't say she couldn't. She also hadn't ever bothered buying the vest, ribbon, or blazer that was supposed to go with it. Ryoma didn't bother holding back a smirk when a senpai in a black jacket with a red armband on one of the sleeves glared at said secretary when she tried to get him to step in. She _did_ attempt to hide a snicker when the senpai scared the lady when he said that he didn't care if herbivores wore things that weren't forbidden on school grounds.

During the actual school day, it didn't take Ryoma long to decide that most of the classes were only good for naptime. All in all things would have been utterly boring without Tsunami around. Finally, a couple of months later the girls were playing basketball in PE. Ryoma found a way to do nothing without being noticed, of course. After all, she was only interested in tennis as far as sports were concerned. The team she and her new friend were supposedly part of lost. The other girls on their team, the black and green haired girl found, were very sore losers. After all, they blamed their loss entirely on Tsunami, who'd been forbidden from leaving the bench, and told her to clean up by herself. Naturally however, Ryoma ignored their calls to leave and helped her once they were gone.

"Ignore the baka-tachi, Tsunami." Ryoma told her friend, "If they take losing a no big deal game in PE that badly they're all mada mada dane."

Tsunami was stunned; no one had ever taken her side before. "R-Ryoma-chan…"

"Besides, I promised you last week that I'd get Aniki to help me teach you tennis." Ryoma added with a smirk, "I guarantee that if there's a tennis unit in PE or a tennis tournament that we'll crush anyone."

Tsunami sweat-dropped. 'Ryoma-chan is actually a sadist, ne?'

"And you never know- maybe Aniki will be impressed." Ryoma added, partly to tease and partly to get Tsunami to stop whatever trail of thought was creeping her out.

"Ryoma!" Tsunami protested with blush and an admittedly adorable whine at the reminder of the older boy who had actually been sort of treating her as the young lady Nana Sawada claimed she was.

Working together, the two girls finished quickly. Ryoma finished changing first and waited for Tsunami even though she tried to insist on the darker haired girl going ahead. After all, as Ryoma told the auburn haired girl, she would probably just fall asleep. Just before they headed to class, though, they spotted their class's 'miss popular' Kyoko Sasagawa out of the window. She was with a friend when the kendo club's captain showed up, which prompted the friend to leave. It didn't mean anything to Ryoma but she noticed a drop in her friend's mood.

"Tsunami-chan?"

"… Is someone as nice as Kyoko-chan really dating a jerk like Mochida?" Tsunami complained.

"… Eh?..." Ryoma acknowledged the comment even though she was confused. "Why does it matter?"

"It would be terrible if she fell for him and he broke her heart." Tsunami elaborated.

Ryoma nodded in agreement, but didn't say anything. Both girls watched in silence until both classmates in question were out of sight. They looked like they weren't dating to the indifferent tennis player. So she proceeded to cheer up her friend with the news. Though, Tsunami was still skeptical until Kyoko herself didn't understand an obvious implication.

The next morning Ryoma showed up at Tsunami's. She had decided that the shy girl needed someone to look after and protect her when she wasn't at home. Ryoma noticed immediately that Tsunami was acting weird, but she wrote it off at first. The former professional tennis player changed her tune when they realized a baby was following them. (Though to be fair he looked more like a toddler.) In her typical manner Ryoma made to ignore the baby until her friend showed recognition.

"Reborn, why are you following me?!" Tsunami complained.

"I lied before. My real line of work is assassination." the baby claimed, "I was sent to train you as the next boss of the Vongola."

"Who are you, Aka-chan?" Ryoma asked, "And if you're talking mafia or something how is Tsunami the successor?"

"The ninth boss's three sons were all killed." the baby informed her, "As the direct descendent of the first boss Tsunami is the next successor. I'm Dame-Tsuna's home tutor, Reborn."

"… I can see Tsunami having a tutor…" Ryoma started.

"… Ryoma-chan!"

"… But if you either intend to force her against her will or think that she's suited for such a job with how soft hearted she is you're mada mada dane." Ryoma finished.

"She won't be when I'm done." Reborn said, ignoring about the part about whether the shier girl was willing.

"…Whatever." Ryoma dismissed, "If you want to scar a girl who's too caring for a life like that, have a ball."

Reborn looked at Ryoma contemplatively, surprised that a girl that seemed to have no connection to the mafia was acting so indifferent about the subject. But he never had a chance to reply. Just then, they ran into Kyoko. The first thing the red head did was coo over how cute Reborn was. Then she let after a short conversation with Tsunami. Ryoma didn't say anything. She just looked at her friend as she watched the other girl leave.

"She seems to be a good friend." Reborn commented.

"Eh?! It's… not like that." Tsunami denied, "She's… just… the only person who was nice to me before Ryoma-chan moved to town."

Ryoma finally remembered where'd seen Mochida. "Ah! That guy from before, the one you didn't want dating her… I finally remember why he looked familiar."

"Hii! Do you know him?" Tsunami asked.

"Not at all, but he's my neighbor's boyfriend." Ryoma said.

That shot down the other girl's mood, as even to her it was clear he'd been flirting with Kyoko. "Is that so…"

"I take it she's being fooled by this boy?" Reborn stated.

"So the class would see that he's a lowlife if they knew." Ryoma agreed.

"Why aren't you more concerned?" Tsunami asked.

"Should I be? She doesn't seem to get his intent." Ryoma countered.

"If you're so concerned…" Reborn said as his chameleon changed into a gun, "Tell her with your dying will."

Then he shot her. Tsunami started to fall. However, she righted herself. Her hazel eyes were amber and an orange flame was on her forehead.

"REBORN! I'LL WARN KYOKO WITH MY DYING WILL!" Tsunami shouted.

Then she ran off.

".. If this is going to be a common occurrence you owe me two cans of grape Ponta for every troublesome situation I need to help her with until further notice." The dark haired girl told the baby, "And if I get dragged into being involved with the mafia I expect to be paid well."

"Fair enough." Reborn agreed, "I didn't expect Dame-Tsuna to have such a sensible friend."

"… I'm new in town. And most of our classmates are idiots." Ryoma said.

"Where are you from?" Reborn interrogated.

"I'm Japanese but I grew up in America." was all Ryoma said.

"What… happened?" Tsunami asked when they reached her.

"That was the Dying Will Bullet." Reborn informed her, and then he proceeded to explain what it did.

"Hii! What if I didn't have any regrets?!" Tsunami almost shouted.

"I _am _a hitman." Reborn reminded her.

"Herbivores, get to class." said the boy who wore a black jacket instead of the standard uniform Ryoma met in the office the day before.

"H-hai, Hibari-san!" Tsunami said with a squeak.

"So his name was Hibari? He seems interesting." Ryoma commented when they were out of earshot.

"He's Kyouya Hibari, the head of the Disciplinary Committee." Tsunami told her friend, "Anyone who messes with him will get bitten to death by his tonfas."

Ryoma smirked. "Then as long as the school doesn't run out of idiots and low-lives I won't be bored even without tennis."

'How did I end up with friends with someone like this?' Tsunami wondered.

The duo was in for a big surprise when they reached the classroom. Some felt 'Dame-Tsuna' had no place warning Kyoko that she should avoid someone. Most of the girls, however, were furious when Ryoma confirmed that Mochida had picked up or dropped off her neighbor from a different school many times. She'd even him kiss the girl in front of her parents. Then the boy himself came to challenge Tsunami to 'defend his honor'.

Ryoma knew her friend could never handle it on her own. So the dark haired girl took action. She had her big brother, Ryoga, e-mail her the picture her mom took of their neighbor and her boyfriend 'for blackmail purposes'. Then she made lots of copies of each picture and with the help of Sasagawa's best friend mass distributed them. Faced with undeniable proof, by the time the 'showdown' came around only the girls that were Mochida's more avid fangirls of the 'rabid' variety hadn't put Mochida on their blacklist. After Tsunami beat him thanks to a Dying Will Bullet, Ryoma took her and left, leaving the kendo captain at the mercy of the girls who were present. But only after Kyoko had approached the auburn haired girl.

"Thank you for what you did." Kyoko said.

"N-no problem, Kyoko-chan." Tsunami stuttered, surprised.

"Can I call you Tsuna-chan?" Kyoko asked.

"Of- of course!" Tsunami assured, then realized, 'Is this… because of Reborn and Ryoma maybe?'

Ryoma gave a small smile, secretly relieved that things went so well for her friend. That weird baby would be good for the shy girl in the long run. And Ryoma was sure she wouldn't be bored any time soon. It looked like moving to Namimori had definitely been a good idea.

**Owari**


End file.
